In Flight

In Flight

By Rachael Orman

In Flight

Copyright 2015 by Rachael Orman

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In Flight
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

I was running late. Again. If the darn plane left without me, I was seriously going to freak out.

In my three-inch heels and dress skirt, I walked as fast as I could through the airport terminal, dragging my black suitcase behind me. Every curse word I knew flew through my head. It wasn’t my fault I was late. Really. I had a conference call that had run over. Not that the airline would care. I was just one passenger out of hundreds to them. It didn’t matter to them that it was extremely important I get on the plane before it left.

Nearly tripping over my heels, I kicked them off before clutching them in one hand and continuing toward my gate. My loose blonde hair flapped around everywhere and was probably a tangled mess, but thankfully, when I neared the gate, I saw the plane was still there and the gate door was still open. Breathing heavily, I dug through my small purse and pulled out my ticket. The not-so-friendly woman snatched the piece of paper from me, scanned it, and then handed it back.

As I stepped past her, she muttered that I had held up the entire plane. I highly doubted that, but it no longer mattered. It hadn’t left without me, and that was all that was important. By the time I walked to the open door of the plane, I had regained my breath and slipped my shoes on before stepping over the threshold. A much friendlier flight attendant glanced at my ticket before telling me where my seat was located.

Walking through the half-empty plane, I realized I couldn’t possibly be the last person on or the flight was going to be blessedly empty. It was a couple hour flight, and I personally had checked how often flights left to San Diego. It was only once a day so I was surprised there weren’t more people. Either way, I had one of the seats near the rear. Once I found it, I dropped my purse into the seat before hefting my bag into the overhead storage area.

Plopping into my seat, I breathed in deeply.
Made it.
I pushed my purse under the seat and then closed my eyes.

I had a meeting the next morning that had already been delayed once, and if I didn’t make the single afternoon flight, I would have to reschedule the meeting again. It had been the other party’s fault last time, but it didn’t matter. The meeting was important. I worked in Human Resources and it was my job to meet with every new employee. I had to make sure they were settling in well, especially the higher up positions that were filled from outside the company. Not just any company. My family’s company. My grandfather had started it and passed it to my father, who would likely pass it to me. However, I was expected to learn my way up that ladder, not just be handed it. I knew I’d get promotions that I hadn’t worked as long and hard for, but I also wanted to experience as much from every level in the company so I could draw on them when I did lead it. Even though that wouldn’t be until many, many years down the road. I was only twenty-two and good ole dad was in his late forties since he’d had me when he was young.

The meeting was with the head of the branch in San Diego. Our main office was in New York, but I was heading there from another one of our offices that was remotely located. When I wasn’t welcoming new people into the company, I had the most unpleasant job of letting people go. It was never easy and my least favorite part, but someone had to do it.

I felt the air shift as someone dropped into the seat next to me, a whiff of cologne told me it was a man. The unexpected company snapped me from my thoughts.

Opening my eyes, I turned my head to meet a pair of sparkling brown eyes and a set of broad shoulders covered in a suit jacket. He was fairly attractive, even though he was closer to my father’s age than mine. The small specks of gray peeking through the dark brown of his hair along with discernible smile lines told me he was probably in his early forties.

“Hi,” the man said with a warm smile.

“Hi.” I tried to smile, but my energy was waning since the adrenaline was gone from my mad dash to the plane.

The man adjusted his suit as he got comfortable, and I turned to look out the window. It was only moments later the flight attendants walked down the aisle making sure all the overhead bins were closed while another gave the standard seatbelt demonstration as the plane started moving toward the runway.

“I thought I was going to miss the flight,” the man said, bringing my attention back to him.

“I did, too. I only sat down a few minutes before you.”.

“So, where are you headed to?” the man asked, completely ignoring the flight attendant giving her speech.

“San Diego. Aren’t you?” I lifted an eyebrow. It’d be just my luck to get the one person who somehow ended up getting on the wrong plane. My day was going
that
well.

“Yes. I didn’t know if you were catching a connecting flight. What draws you to the coast?”

“Work.” I hated small talk. I’d rather look out the window until I could pop open my laptop and get some work done, but I wasn’t rude enough to ignore him.

“I’m Ben, by the way.” He held out a large hand for me to shake.

Slipping my hand into his, I nodded. “Summer.”

After a warm squeeze, he dropped my hand. We were about to take off and, thankfully, he fell into silence. I leaned my head back against the seat and closed my eyes as the plane picked up speed and lifted off the ground. The worst part of flying — taking off. No matter how many flights I took, I couldn’t get over that initial feeling of weightlessness or the dropping of my stomach.

As the plane leveled off, I felt a pat on my hand. Opening my eyes, I found it was Ben.

“We made it,” he assured me with a wink.

With a sheepish smile, I corrected him. “It’s not that I’m afraid the plane won’t make it. Not really. It’s that bottomed out feeling. Like the rug was just yanked from under your feet. I hate that feeling.”

“I understand that. Every time I fly and that feeling hits, I’m reminded of when I found my wife screwing my business partner. It’s fantastic.” He shook his head as a dry, sarcastic laugh slipped from his lips. Looking away from me, he gave a deep, painful sigh.

I rubbed my hand up my arm while mumbling an awkward, “Sorry.” I’d never been in a relationship serious enough to be cheated on so I couldn’t relate, and I certainly didn’t expect a stranger to be sharing something so personal.

“No. No, I’m sorry. It’s just been one of those days,” he said, turning back to look at me. “Over-booked with back-to-back meetings, running across country for meetings, not enough sleep, not enough down time.” Ben ran a hand over his hair as he blew out a breath. “I’ll leave you alone. I can tell you are probably just as busy as I am.”

“Trust me, it’s okay. I can completely relate. How about some office free, work free conversation? It’d do me some good to get a breather in anyway.” While I hadn’t been thinking about it initially when he mentioned how hectic his life was, I realized I hadn’t had time away from work related people and conversations either.

“Sure. What do you have in mind?” Ben asked as his fingers skimmed over the sides of his lips. Shifting in his seat, he turned toward me so our knees bumped in the small space. He unbuttoned his jacket and shrugged it off, revealing a crisp white dress shirt and multi-hued tie before draping it over his lap.

“How about…what do you do when you aren’t at work? For fun, that is.” I moved so I was turned toward him as I asked the first question I could think of.

His lips pressed together, making it appear he was fighting to hide a smile. “I like to tie up and spank young women.”

If I hadn’t seen the sparkle in his eye, I would’ve thought he was completely serious from his tone of voice. Not to mention, the smile he was fighting to hide.

“Well, sir, that’s awfully forward to share.” I returned the smile. Little did he know that I actually enjoyed such things.

“You asked. I simply answered. What do you like to do outside of work? I shared something personal, so you have to, too.” His sparkling brown eyes met mine in an unspoken challenge. Things had swiftly moved from friendly to flirting, and I was okay with that. Not that I normally found older men attractive, but I liked how bold he was. Somehow, he managed to find the balance between being extremely forward without crossing over into creepy.

“Well, it just happens that I like to be tied up and spanked by older men.” I didn’t have to hold back a smile or play coy. It was the truth, mostly. I may have added in the older men bit for him. Plus, I wanted to see how serious he was. More often than not, people joked about it, but when it came down to it, it was all show. Not that I was going to invite him back to my room or anything, I simply wanted to return the challenge.

“Older men? As in more than one?” He picked up the part I hadn’t expected.

“Sure. I’m more than one man can handle anyway.” I shrugged and pushed my hair over my shoulder. I hadn’t meant to say men as in plural, but I’d try to bluff my way through it.

“You sound pretty confident in that for how young you are.”

“Young? How old do you think I am?” I scoffed as the flight attendant pushed past us with a heavy metal cart, heading to the front of the airplane.

“Early twenties at most.”

“Twenty-two. Good guess, but I’ve experienced more than you probably have… even if you are quite a bit older than I am.” I gave a confident smile. I couldn’t help but try to get him riled up.

“You keep calling me old. I just might take offense.”

Brushing my fingertips against the close-cropped hair on the side of his head, I gave a flirty smile. “You won’t. If you did, you would cover the silver. Instead, I’d bet you like that they make you look more sophisticated and experienced. Correct me if I’m wrong.”

“What makes you think you know so much about me?” He lifted an eyebrow as he straightened his tie and leaned back a bit from me. Guess I struck a chord.

I leaned onto the tiny metal armrest, once again closing the distance between us. “I’ve been around many men like you. I know how men like you work. You don’t scare or intimidate me.”

“Don’t be so sure of that, little girl.” His voice was husky and sensual, even as he lowered his tone, careful not to be overheard. As he spoke, his hand moved quickly and fisted in my hair. Using his hold, he pulled my face closer. “I can guarantee that I am much more than meets the eye.” As he spoke, damp, warm air brushed along the shell of my ear.

“Prove it.” The two words slipped out of my dry throat before I could stop them. I might be young to some people, but I knew exactly what it took to get me hot. There was nothing like having a man dominate me in the bedroom. I was headstrong and a smart ass, but behind closed doors, I loved to have a man take over. It was the only time I could let go and not worry about everything. It was my only weakness. Normally I wouldn’t allow harmless flirting to turn into anything more, but it was obvious Ben knew exactly what he was doing. Plus, I was wound tightly and a little fun would help relax me before returning to all work and no play.

“You think you can really handle me?” Ben leaned back enough to look into my eyes from only inches away. “I’m not going to take it easy on you.”

“Good.” I met and held his gaze.

“Then spread your thighs,” Ben said, releasing my hair.

I swallowed hard as I leaned back in my chair and slowly pushed my knees as far apart as my skirt would allow. Both my hands gripped the bottom of the thin, rough seat in an effort to hide my nerves. Ben stared at my thighs for a moment before shaking his head. Whatever he had in mind wasn’t going to work.

“Stand up and turn your skirt so the zipper is in the front,” Ben instructed after checking where the flight attendant was. She was still midway up the aisle handing out drinks. When I hesitated, he ran his tongue over his teeth impatiently as his eyes slipped over me from head to toe. Reaching beneath his jacket on his lap to adjust himself, he crossed his arms over his chest and waited.

Finally, I stood, quickly twisted my skirt around then sat back down, not lifting my eyes, afraid I’d see someone looking in my direction. Never before had I done anything even remotely sexy on a plane. Not that it would be my first time doing more than shaking hands with a stranger, but it wasn’t something I did all the time.

Reaching over, he gently pushed my shoulder back before grabbing the tab on the zipper and pulling it down.

“Put this over your lap.” Ben handed me his jacket. My eyes dropped to his lap where his erection was pressing out against his slacks, but he didn’t seem to care. Quickly, I spread the material out as much as I could to cover my lap in anticipation of what he was going to do. It was going to be naughty — that much I had figured out — and there wasn’t a chance I was going to say no. While it might not be the best idea, I was too excited by the thought of no one else knowing what was going on with this sexy, dominant man.

My heart was racing. I could feel it pulsing between my legs. There was no doubt I was already wet for him. Biting down on my bottom lip, I leaned back and tried to make it as easy as possible for him to get in my skirt. I would probably never have a chance to experience something anything close to what Ben was offering so I was giving it everything I had.

Instead of jumping in my skirt like I had expected, he surprised me by placing a soft kiss upon my lips as his fingers caressed my cheek. “Relax,” he whispered against my lips. The hand closest to me slowly moved under the jacket before slipping under the elastic band at the top of my panties.